We, the under-signed organizations, continue to urge you to vote against the REAL ID Act (H.R.418). We also have serious concerns about a new amendment to be offered by Rep. Sensenbrenner. The amendment he proposed today would make the bill worse in various important ways. This amendment would, among other changes, make it even more difficult for legitimate asylum-seekers to find refuge in the United States, and it would bar courts from reviewing an even broader range of decisions to deport non-citizens.

The amendment would also lift the cap on the number of asylees who can adjust to permanent resident status each year. That cap is now so low (10,000) that an asylee who applies today for a green card can expect to wait at least 15 years to become a legal permanent resident. While we support eliminating the cap, we oppose the Sensenbrenner amendment because it would remove the cap at the cost of preventing asylum seekers from finding the safety they desperately need.